Grain sampler



June; 10, 1941. J. E, BAILEY 2,245,519

4 GRAIN .SAMPLER Filed Oct. 16, 1939 [NVENTOE JbJEPI-l E. BAILEY Patented June 10, 1941 UNITE D STATES. PAT EN T OFFICE H 7 2,245,519 r t I GRAIN sAMrL E'a JosephE. Bailey, Minneapolis, Minn, assignor to Cargill, Incorporated, Minneapolis; Minn, a corporationof Delaware v 0 Application- October 16, 1939, SerialNo. 299,647

3 Claims. (Cl. 831-15) l g when'the cam moves out of engagement with the Thi invention relates to new and useful improvements in sampling'deviceaand more particularly to such a'device adapted f-orsampling grain and like'materials. V

Numerous attempts have heretofore been made to develop samplers of simple and inexpensive construction, and which are capable of obtaining fairly representative and true samples of grain from a car or elevator. To the bestof my knowledge, none of these commercial samplers have proven entirely satisfactory; either because of being more or less impractical, orbecause of manufacturing costs.

An object of the present invention,'therefore,

is to provide a sampler whereinall of the'objectionable features and deficiencies prevalent in many well-known samplers, have been substantially entirely eliminated, and, as a'result, a very efiicient, simple, and practical sampling device has been provided which may readily be used in connection with elevators and other grain handling apparatus, toremove' representative samples from a stream of grain at spaced intervals,

whereby the true condition of the grain being loaded or unloaded-may readily be ascertained.

A further object is to provide a sampling device comprising a tubular member adapted to be mounted in the usual throat or discharge side of an elevator leg, and having a plurality of spaced openings therein facing the stream of grain, and a cover memberadapted to be operated to periodically expose said openings'to the grain stream, whereby successive samples of grain may be removed from the stream which will be truly representative of the grain being discharged from the elevator leg.

Other objects of theinvention reside in the simple and inexpensive construction of the device as a whole; in the-parallel link mechanism for supporting the covermember, whereby when thev cover is moved longitudinally to a' position to expose the openings in the tubular member to the stream of grain, a lateral'movement is simultaneously imparted to the cover, to cause it to move away from or out of contact with the periphery of said tubular member, Whereby'grain is not likely to become lodged in the cover supporting and operating mechanism and interfere with the operation thereof; in the novel means provided for operating the cover, which includes 5 a rotary cam or crank member adapted to engage and impart reciprocal movement to a slide which has an operative connection with the cover, whereby when the slide is actuated by the cam,the cover is moved into open position, and

slide, the" cover is returnedto its closed position by gravity, whereby each time the cover drops from open to closed position, it contacts the peripheryof the tubular member with a slight impact Which is sufiicient to dislodge any grain or other material which may tend to lodge in the operating mechanism of the cover.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description and accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the annexed claims. 7 a

In the accompanying drawings there has been disclosed a structure-d'esigned to carryoutth'e various objects of' the invention, but it is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the exact features shown as various changes may be made within the scope of the claims which follow.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is avertical sectional view of the up per end of an elevator leg and a garner, showing the invention embodied in the usual throat or connection therebetween;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the sampler, showing the cover in closed position;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing the cover in open position;

Figure 4 isa cross-sectional View on the line 4- of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional View on the line 5 5 ofFigure 3. l v c In theselected embodiment .of the invention here shown, there isillustrated in Figure 1, for purposes of disclosure an elevator leg, generally designated by the numeral ,2, comprising a bucket conveyer 3 adapted to elevate and discharge grain into a garnengenerally indicated by the numeral 4. The garner is shown connected to the upper end of the elevator leg by theusual throat or connection 5.

The novel sampler herein disclosed, generally indicated by the numeral I 0, is shown designed for mounting "in the throat 5,v but it is to be 11-11- derstoodthat it may be adapted for use in connection with other grain handling apparatus,

where applicable, without departing from the scope of the invention. It is shown comprising a tubular member orpipe 6 having alplurality of spaced openings '5 in its wall facing the stream of grain passing through the throat 5. The tubular member 6 ,is positioned across the throat 5, as best shown in Figure 1, and is shown having its end portions, passing through suitable apertures provided in the: upper and lower walls 8 and 9, respectively, of the throat 5. uitable means, not shown, i provided for securing the ends of the tubular member 6 in position in the walls of the throat 5.

A cover member I l is mounted for longitudinal movement on the member 6, and has a plurality of openings l2 therein adapted to be moved into registration with the openings 1 of the tubular member 6, thereby to expose the openings I to the stream of grain, as shown in Figure 3.

A feature of the invention resides in the novel manner of supporting the cover upon the tubular member 6, whereby when the cover is moved longitudinally from closed to open position, a slight lateral movement is simultaneously imparted thereto, whereby it is moved out of contact with the wall of the tubular member 6, as shown in Figure 5. Such lateral movement of the cover, as it is moved longitudinally with respect to the member 6, prevents particles of grain or other material passing through the throat from interfering with the operation of the cover. In other words, by such movement of the cover with respect to the pipe 6, kernels of grain are not likely to become lodged between the supporting and operating parts of the cover and thereby interfere with its operation.

To thus support the cover, it is shown mounted on a plurality of parallel links I3 and I4. These links each have one end pivotally connected to the cover H, as shown at l5, and their opposite ends to the tubular member 6, as shown at IS. The cover is normally retained in its lowermost position by gravity, shown in Figure 2, wherein it will be noted that the openings l2 in the wall of the cover are positioned between the openings I in the wall of the tubular member 6, whereby no grain can enterthe tubular member.

The means provided for intermittently operating the cover to permit grain to enter the.

tubular member 6, is shown comprising a slide I! mounted in a suitable guide l8 and having its lower end pivoted to one end of a connecting link I3. The opposite end of this link is pivotally connected to the upper end of the cover, as shown at 2|. The lower end of the slide I1 is shown passing through an opening 22 provided in the wall 8 of the elevator throat 5.

The slide 11 is shown operated by a radially extending lug or cam 23 secured to a shaft 24 of a suitable speed reducer 25. The speed reducer may be driven from a suitable motor 28. The cam or lug 25 is adapted to engage a projection or head 21 provided on the upper end of the slide 11, as clearly illustrated in Figure 2. Thus, for each revolution of the cam 23, the slide is moved upwardly from the position shown in Figure 2 to that shown in Figure 3, until the cam reaches substantially the position shown in Figure 3, where it moves out of engagement with the head 2! of the slide. As soon as the cam 23 disengages the head 21 of the slide, the latter is released, and the cover then drops by gravity from the position shown in Figure 3 to that shown in Figure 2, thereby closing the openings 1 in the wall of the tubular member 6.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that the cover I l is thus operated to alternately open and close the openings I in the tubular member 6. One complete cycle of operation is imparted to the cover H for each revolution of the cam 23, the cycle of operation of the cover, however, being relatively shorter than the cycle of operation of the cam 23, because of the cam 23 moving out of engagement with the head 21 of the slide, when the latter reaches substantially the position shown in Figure 3. When the slide is released from the cam 23, the cover immediately drops back into closed position and engages the wall of the tubular member 6 with a slight impact, which is sufficient to dislodge any grain or material which may tend to lodge between the operating parts of the cover, such as the links 13 and M. In Figures 3 and 5, it will be noted that the cover ll moves outwardly away from or out of direct contact with the wall of the tubular member 6, when the cover is moved into open position. In Figures 2 and 4, the cover is shown in closed position, wherein it may normally contact directly with the wall of the tubular member 6.

Elevator legs comprising two or more strings of conveyer cups or buckets 3 may require two ormore samplers ID in the throat 5, in order that the samples of the grain may be taken at spaced points across the width of the stream, so that the resultant sample will be truly representative of the entire stream of grain. If two or more such samplers are used .in one throat, they may be operated from a single motor and speed reducer for, in that case, the shaft 24 may be extended so as to support the cams 23 of all of the samplers I0. Also, if two or more samplers are used in a single throat or stream of grain, the cams 23 thereof are so arranged on the shaft 24 that the covers ll of the various samplers will operate alternately or, in other words, in such a manner that the openings 1 of only one of the samplers are exposed to the stream of grain at one time.

The construction of the sampler is extremely simple, as will readily be understood by reference to Figures 2 and 3, and the parts thereof are so arranged that the sampler may readily be installed in an elevator throat, as shown in Figure 1, in a comparatively short period of time. The successive samples of grain removed from the stream of grain passing through the throat 5 may be discharged into a suitable tube 28 leading to a suitable divider, not shown in the drawing. These dividers are common and Well known in the elevator art, and it is therefore thought unnecessary to herein show the same in detail. It is also to be understood that, in some instances,'the samples of grain removed from the stream may be delivered directly to the sampling room from the tube 28 without passing through a divider.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a grain elevator leg having a discharge throat, a tubular member traversing said throat and having a plurality of openings in its wall adapted to receive portions of the grain discharging from the elevator, a

cover for said openings, a mechanism for imparting longitudinal movement to the cover to alternately open and close said openings, whereby samples of grain may be taken from the stream of grain passing through said throat, and means for imparting lateral movement to the cover during longitudinal movement thereof, whereby to dislodge grain and other material which may tend to accumulate in and interfere with the cover operating mechanism.

2. In combination with a grain elevator leg having a discharge throat, a sampling device comprising a tubular member having its ends supported in the upper and lower walls of the throat, said member having a plurality of openings in the wall thereof, adapted to receive grain passing through said throat from the elevator, a cover for said openings, parallel links supporting the cover, a mechanism for operating the cover to alternately open and close said openings, said parallel links causing the cover to move away from the tubular member, each time the cover is moved into open position, thereby to release any grain which may tend to accumulate in the cover operating mechanism.

3. A grain sampler comprising a tubular mem- 10 her adapted. to be positioned in a stream of grain and having a plurality of longitudinally alined openings in its wall, a cover member for said openings having similarly alined apertures theremember. 1 l 5,

JOSEPH E. BAILEY. 

